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Supreme Court Documents
National Security Archive Amicus Curiae Brief
Solicitor General's Brief
City of Chicago's Brief
City of Chicago's Supplemental Brief
Solicitor General's Reply Brief
Appendix to Petition to Certiorari Containing Court of Appeals and District Court Decisions

 

 

For release February 5, 2003 For more information, contact:
Meredith Fuchs 202/994-7000
Thomas W. Brunner 202/719-7000

SUPREME COURT CASE POSES RISK TO FREEDOM OF INFORMATION; ARCHIVE FILES AMICUS BRIEF TO DEFEND BROAD DISCLOSURE

Treasury v. Chicago Could Limit FOIA Purpose to Evaluating Government Conduct, But Statutory Intent Was to Ensure Access for any Public or Private Purpose.

Washington, D.C., February 6, 2003 - The National Security Archive yesterday filed an amicus brief in the pending U.S. Supreme Court case, Department of the Treasury v. City of Chicago. The case involves the gun trace database maintained by Treasury's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which seeks to prevent Chicago from obtaining information such as names and addresses of gun purchasers from the database.

The Treasury Department's argument recognizes only the privacy interests in the information, and no broader public interest in law enforcement or gun policy issues. The Treasury Department would narrow the reach of the Freedom of Information Act by restricting the FOIA's disclosure requirements only to records that directly "cast light on the ATF's performance." Limiting access to such a narrow category of records would overlook the broad disclosure mandated by the FOIA's legislative history, which requires disclosure for any public or private purpose. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for the City of Chicago, so a Supreme Court reversal poses the risk that a narrow definition of the FOIA's purpose could drastically limit the disclosure of information, even in areas beyond the privacy interests particularly at issue in this case. Such a holding could well end the use of FOIA to uncover critical information in government files that concerns the health, safety, security and welfare of the public.

Thomas W. Brunner, a partner at Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP, who co-authored the brief with the Archive's General Counsel Meredith Fuchs, stated: "The Archive filed this brief to rein in recent judicial decisions that significantly narrow the Freedom of Information Act."

Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP is a national law firm with over 200 attorneys practicing in more than two dozen specialties of law. The firm serves a diverse clientele of domestic and international corporations, associations and individuals. For more information see www.wrf.com.

The National Security Archive won the prestigious George Polk Award in April 2000 for "piercing self-serving veils of government secrecy." The Archive's many FOIA litigation victories include the release of historic documentation ranging from the Kennedy-Khrushchev letters during the Cuban missile crisis to Oliver North's diaries during the Iran-contra scandal, and the landmark case that saved from destruction the White House e-mail of the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations. For more information, see www.nsarchive.org.

 

About the National Security ArchiveArchive NewsDeclassified Documents OnlineArchive ProjectsArchive PublicationsFreedom of Information ActInternship OpportunitiesGuide for Researchers